No fewer than four persons who are agents of accredited sale outlets arrested by officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corp NSCDC, for selling the ongoing 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) application documents above the prescribed price of N4000 have been sentenced to three years in prison each.
The Head of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Public Affairs, Fabian Benjamin made this known to Journalists in Abuja.
Benjamin said the accused were convicted on the 27th of January, 2020, by a Magistrate Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, where they pleaded guilty to the offence.
The four convicted were: Mr. Ujaku Emem Samuel, who claimed to be a pastor and his wife, Mrs. Peace Emem Samuel; Mr. Opulani Joseph Sunupe and Mr. Umar Musa Sa’adu.
According to Benjamin, “before the commencement of the sale of 2020,UTME/DE application documents on 13th of January 2020, the sale outlets and their agents were adequately briefed by the Board on the cost and procedures for vending the ePINs”
“The price of the ePINS was fixed at N3500 while that of the Reading Text was N500 totalling N4000? he added.
The Board’s Head of Public Affairs revealed that the commission of N210 from the N3500 due to the Board, is given to the sale outlets as a commission on each pin sold to motivate them as well as dissuade them from exploiting candidates.
“It is rather unfortunate that in spite of all the warnings and appeals as well as the offer of commission by the Board, some sale agents still deemed it fit to test the resolve of the Board and the Federal Government by doing the contrary” Benjamin said.
Fabian added that the conviction is the first in the series of ongoing prosecution of such cases in several courts of law across the country, and, as such, many more convictions are being expected in due course.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government, in a bid to lessen the burden on parents, had directed that the UTME application documents be sold at N3500 instead of the N5000 charged in previous years.
The board Further warned sale outlets and their agents charged with the vending of the ePINs to desist from engaging in sharp practices face the consequences.
“Anyone who sells the ePINs above the regulated price would certainly, be arrested and prosecuted as each ePIN comes with a unique identifier for ease of tracking”
JAMB also warned candidates to desist from paying more than the prescribed price as they can be culpable of aiding and abetting corrupt acts.
The Board also wish to inform the general public that it welcomes credible and actionable reports of persons or centers exploiting candidates by selling above the regulated price.
